Counting
by WavesOfWisdom99
Summary: Percy's step sister, Aria, isn't really sure she counts as his actual little sister. To Percy, she has never counted as anything else.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Ello. So, this is one with our darling Seaweed Brain. Its set after the war with Gaia...Aria is my OC, we're going to pretend that Paul had a daughter from a previous marriage, alright? ;) :P Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned PJO, I would have given Percy a sister :P. So, its pretty obvious that I don't own anything except my OC.**

Percy's POV

Percy came home to an empty house...which was weird because his step sister was supposed to be at home. His day at school had been long and exhausting (apparently, saving the world from Mother Earth herself didn't count as extra credit) and all he wanted to do was eat and IM Annabeth and convince her to come over and forget about his trig homework. But first, he had to find his missing step sister.

Not many people knew (heck, he didn't know until he came back home after defeating Gaia) but Paul had a daughter from his previous marriage, a 14 year old girl with long black hair, dark brown eyes and enough sarcasm to shut Thalia up (probably). She used to live with Paul's ex-wife, but after a court trial involving drug usage, Paul was given custody of her. Aria and Percy barely knew each other (courtesy Hera's little cross country exchange program and the end of the world and what not) but they got along fairly well. She knew about demigods ('I KNEW you weren't human!' had been her reaction) and had clear sight.

She went to a regular public school and was usually at home 15 minutes before Percy. Which brought him back to the problem at hand...he couldn't see her anywhere.

Percy's heart rate accelerated as he looked around the apartment. She wasn't in the living room, or the kitchen or the dining room. Thoughts of evil monsters who kidnapped anybody they could find in association with heroes they wanted dead floated around in his head. He was on the verge of a full on panic attack when he noticed the door of Aria's room shut.

Mentally cursing himself for being so stupid, Percy tapped the door.

"Aria? You there?"

"Yeah?" came her reply, her voice sounding hoarse and strangled.

"You okay?" Percy asked, worried. He'd known the girl for 3 weeks, but even then, he'd never seen her so much as frown. Now she sounded like she had been crying.

"Yeah fine. Why?" the choke at the end of her sentence gave her away.

"Nice try. Can I come in?" Percy asked, hand already on the doorknob.

Bed springs squeaked from the other side of the door, and something fell onto the floor. A minute later, a more composed sounding Aria called out "Come in!"

Percy opened the door and stepped in. Now, he was no expert on teenage girls, but he was pretty sure messy hair, tear stains and red rimmed eyes weren't indications of being 'fine'. It broke his heart a bit to see her like this.

"What happened?" he asked, as gently as he could.

She shook her head, "Nothing, absolutely nothing." She shot him a smile faker than the drachma the Stolls used to pay off their bets.

"You're lying," Percy dead panned, and sat next to her. Aria sat with her legs crossed on her bed, face half hidden behind hair that she tossed in front, hands twisting in her lap and eyes fixed on the floor.

"It doesn't matter,"she said, her voice barely audible now.

"If it's got you this upset, yeah it does matter," Percy replied, voice still soft.

Aria glanced up, eyes full of surprise, "Its just this stupid guy and a stupid bet and my stupid heart," she sighed dramatically and flopped backwards onto her bed.

"What guy?" the protective growl in his tone surprised Percy too.

Aria looked at him for a moment, still lying down, before sighing.

"This guy in my class, he's captain of the football team, regular cliche jock. We'd been going out for a few months but turns out he only asked me out cuz his friend had a bet with him. And yeah, tah dah! End of story," Aria explained. She tried to sound all cool about it, but Percy could hear the catch in her voice.

He was disgusted. That was understandable, any guy who treated a girl like that deserved the deepest pit of Tartarus. He was about to say something, when Aria's phone rang.

She looked at the caller ID and groaned.

"Who is it?" Percy asked.

"Him," Aria said.

Percy saw red. Before he had fully thought through what he was doing, he had grabbed Aria's phone and picked up.

"Hello?" he greeted, barely managing to keep the growl out of his voice.

"Um, hi. Is Aria there?"

"No. And I swear to the gods, if I find out you've so much as looked at her again, I promise you, you won't walk straight for a month," Percy growled while Aria gaped at him.

The guy on the other end of the line had the nerve to laugh. "Right. Listen dude, I don't take orders from people. Who are you?"

"Aria's brother. And I suggest you listen to me. Don't trust me? Why don't you Google 'Percy Jackson'?"

Silence filled the line. After a minute, the guy spoke up, "Percy Jackson? Like, the guy who made national news when he was 12? The kid who got kicked out of like 30 schools?"

"Yeah. Also the guy who's going to kick your butt into next year if you mess with his little sister again."

More silence. "Right, right. No problem man. I'm sorry, by the,"

Percy hung up before he could get further.

Aria was staring at him, mouth open.

"What?" he asked.

She blushed, "Nothing, nothing. Just...wow. You didn't have to do that."

He smiled at her, "Of course I did. People need to know that they can't mess with my little sister."

"I count?"

"Duh."

Aria gave him a smile so bright, he was pretty sure Apollo was jealous.

**A/N So, what do you think? Let me knoww!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Ello! So, another Aria-Percy chapter...Aria gets braces! Sort of inspired by real life events (the getting braces piece). Imagining Percy hugging you while someone is poking and prodding your mouth is surprisingly helpful :P. **

**On a completely unrelated note, have you heard/ heard of The Vamps? I have completely fallen in love :P. Which artists do you like?**

**Alright, onwards to the story. Enjoy!**

Aria's POV

Aria was not happy. Like, really not happy. Like really, _really_ not happy. And, no, the fact that she hadn't seen her step brother in a week had nothing to do with it. Not really. The main culprit was the strange metallic _thing_ that was glued to her teeth. Most people called them _braces_. She preferred 'Hades's metallic implements from Tartarus'. For some reason, Sally found that name amusing.

She was sitting cross-legged on the couch, scowling, partly because she was ticked off, and partly because that was the least painful expression she could assume. She has just gotten back from her latest orthodontic appointment, where that horrid man who called himself her doctor had put these weird metal pieces on her teeth and stretched a wire between them and sent her on her way with a list of things not to eat and a funky looking toothbrush. Aria was in pain. A _lot_ of pain.

Her dad was currently away on a teacher's conference and Sally had gone to get groceries and about 15 bottles of juice, since that was all Aria could consume without shrieking in pain. The 13-year-old had just resigned herself to an evening of bad television and self pity when she heard the front door open.

Aria froze. Of course, it could've been Sally, but she had only left 5 minutes ago and the grocery shop was pretty far. Her dad was in Toronto. The only other person who had the key, was Percy, but at the moment, the odds of it being a monster were higher.

She slowly unplugged the table lamp, and gripped its base, just in case she needed to defend herself.

Someone walked in and she raised her makeshift weapon, ready to strike.

"Woah!" Percy's voice said, and he ducked on instinct, "Ari! Its just me!"

Aria's arms lowered and she exhaled, "Thank the gods."

Her step brother smirked, "You were going to attack a potential thief with a _lamp_?"

Aria blushed, "I was expecting a monster actually."

Percy laughed at this, "Like I'd let a monster get this far."

Aria replaced the lamp as Percy seated himself on the couch, relaxing. He looked kinda tired, his eyes darker than usual.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, fine. Little tired. I'd forgotten how exhausting senates can be."

She laughed at his expression, before wincing. That movement hurt.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows at her, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," she smiled at him, only realizing her mistake when his eyes widened.

"You got _braces_?" he demanded.

"Um, yeah," Aria could feel the heat rising up her cheeks.

Percy stared at her for another minute before motioning with his hand for her to come closer. She obliged and sat next to him.

"Smile," he said, poking her.

Aria smiled slowly, trying to avoid pain. Her stepbrother gripped her chin and turned her head this way and that, studying her mouth intently. Finally he grinned.

"Looks good," he said with a smirk before letting go of her and sitting back.

"I should hope so," she grumbled in response, "It hurts like hell."

"Really? That sucks," Percy gave her a sympathetic smile and turned his attention to the action movie that was playing on TV.

Aria sighed and leaned against him, trying to take her mind off her teeth by breathing in the smell of the sea that always clung to him.

After a dinner of applesauce and a painkiller, Aria managed to doze off into a fitful slumber. She was awakened in the middle of the night by a persistent pain in her jaw. Apparently, the drugs had worn off already.

She sat up with a groan and glanced at her clock. '2:15 AM' the red letters read. Aria groaned again.

She stumbled out of her room, thinking that a glass of water might help some, when she bumped into someone. Aria just managed to not fall over by gripping the person's arm.

"Aria?" the person, whom she had now identified as Percy, whispered, "What's wrong?"

"Mouth hurts," she whispered back, "You?"

"Bad dream," he muttered, then steered her towards the kitchen.

He switched on the light and poured water into two glasses. He handed one to her, and then took a sip from his own.

"Does it really hurt that much?" Percy asked. Aria nodded, probably looking pretty pitiful, but she was _so_ beyond caring.

"I might try another painkiller," she admitted.

Percy winced, "Honestly, I'd rather you didn't."

"Why not?"

"You took one like 4 hours ago. Zeus knows what too many of those things will do."

"What am I supposed to _do_ then?" Aria demanded, almost whining.

The son of Poseidon shrugged, "Maybe we could talk or something? Get your mind off it?"

"Talking hurts," she muttered.

"Then I can talk, and you can listen."

And that was how they ended up in Percy's room, snuggled up under the covers. He told her stories of every quest he had ever been on, and she listened, taking comfort in his soothing voice, reassuring warmth, and the steady beat of his heart.

At the very end, possibly when he thought she had fallen asleep, she heard him whisper, so softly she barely caught it, "I love you, Ari," and then kiss her head. And somehow, next to that, her stupid braces paled significantly.

**AN: Okay, so there you have it. I'm not exactly thrilled with how this chapter turned out...but let me know what you think! Much love :***


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